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Easter Changes... the Future April 01, 2017

When you look into your future, what do you hope to see?

And by “future,” I don’t mean tomorrow or next week. I mean the capital-F Future: The time at the end of your life when you look back and weigh it all. All of us have a grand vision of what our future looks like—the achievements, relationships, and experiences it entails—and most of the drives (and stressors) that stick with us the longest have to do with that legacy.

Our sense of self-worth largely hinges on the viability of the legacy we seek. When our prospects seem within reach, we feel a confidence boost. When our ideal future seems unattainable, we get stressed or feel like a failure. Sometimes it may even seem that an embodiment of the end of our lives is staring down at us disapprovingly from its perch, waiting on us to prove ourselves, to make something of our lives.

When the pressure to leave a legacy becomes the ultimate measure of self-worth—the standard by which our efforts are judged—we fall under the slavery of an ancient, false god.

This idol demands that we earn our salvation by good works, and our best efforts are never enough. Worldly religion operates the same way, demanding that we justify ourselves by presenting a sterling moral record. In ancient times and modern, across religions and world views, we all end up operating within the same framework: Trying to prove our worth with our best efforts.

Easter changes this. When Jesus gave His life, he bore our sin, our inadequacies, on the cross. Whatever punishment I deserved for failing to live up to God’s standard was completely expended on Jesus. By placing my faith in Jesus, His perfection translates to me. God has already punished my failures on the cross, and now with Jesus’ perfect record I go free.

Easter changes your view of the future in two ways.

1. Your eternal future is secure.

Rather than operate under the stress of an uncertain future that you have to attain through your best efforts, you have the assurance of an eternal future that Jesus accomplished on the cross. There’s nothing you must do to secure this future—Jesus already met all that was required of you. No future sin or failure can threaten this hope because your failures were already wiped out on the cross.

2. You are no longer the main character in your own story.

Rather than go about life trying to build your own empire, you can serve a Kingdom that is bigger and longer-lasting than any legacy you will leave. Let’s face it: It’s hard work to be the hero. Without the hero’s final moment of triumph and redemption, his journey becomes a sad waste. When we try to be the heroes of our own story, the pursuit of that final moment of vindication can consume us.